Posted on: Wednesday, August 8, 2001

Mighty Mo will stay put

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The USS Missouri Memorial Association has sealed a deal with the Navy that keeps the Mighty Mo bow to bow with the USS Arizona Memorial for at least three more years and with a slightly reduced rent.

The not-for-profit organization said yesterday it will pay just under $200,000 a year for the popular tourist attraction to stay at Pier F-5 on Ford Island — $20,000 to $30,000 less than it had been paying annually.

"Visitors are genuinely touched by the Missouri's proximity to the Arizona and the powerful message of sacrifice and triumph that the memorials inspire together in Pearl Harbor," said Don Hess, the association's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

The Arizona sank in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack, taking 1,177 sailors with it. The 887-foot battleship Missouri served as the site of Japan's surrender to the United States on Sept. 2, 1945.

The Missouri has drawn more than 900,000 visitors since it opened to the public on Jan. 29, 1999. Just 300 yards separate the ships, but the relationship has never been a permanent one.

Pier F-5 is a $29 million Navy dock built for the Missouri in the late 1980s when Pearl Harbor was named Mighty Mo's home port. Although the Navy in 1999 cited the need for the pier, officials more recently said there is no pressing need for it.

The lease runs until July 31, 2004. The association was able to negotiate the lower rent because slightly less of the pier is being used and, as a result, the cost per square foot dropped, officials said.